Organ sales essay english 106 final draft PDF

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Theel 1

Lyndsay Jade Theel Grand Canyon University: English 106 May 13th, 2021 Instructor: Jill Mountain

Theel 2 In 2009, a 43-year-old woman by the name of Vikki Tulcus was diagnosed with Wegener’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that impacts the lungs and kidneys. Vikki was not only an organ donating advocate, but she was also the coordinator of her state's organ and tissue donor registry. Vikki died on January 9th, 2013 waiting for a kidney. Stories like these aren’t uncommon… in fact, this happens to about 17 people a day (organdonor.gov). The sad reality is the number of people waiting for an organ is 3 times larger than the number of people who received an organ transplant in 2019. Making organ sales legal would not solve the ‘organ for transplant’ shortage and it would bring up many other problems. Selling organs for profit is unethical because it supports the monopolized healthcare market, attracts unfit candidates and favors the already unbalanced financial ratio of organ recipients (i.e.- favors the rich). For starters, what does it mean to have a monopolized healthcare market? A monopoly is defined as “an economic situation in which only a single seller or producer supplies a commodity or a service” (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2018). It goes on to explain in order for a monopoly to exist, there must be no practical substitutes for the service being provided. This is true for American healthcare isn’t it? If one needs medical care, they must go through a hospital or a doctor’s office and because it is the only viable option for medical care, they can charge whatever they want. The open market institute blames overutilization (the over use or reliance of something). When compared to other countries healthcare, this is proven false. America is one of 37 countries apart of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). This organization works to create better policies within first world countries. The open market institute goes on to say “citizens in other countries like Germany see doctors more, spend more days in the hospital and undergo procedures at roughly similar rates while paying far less for health care and living longer” (Open market institute, 2020). To take it a step farther, the

Theel 3 U.S actually establishes fewer healthcare services per capita than any other country is the OECD. Gerald F. Anderson, a professor of international health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School Public Health states “This implies that much higher prices are paid in the United States than in other countries. But U.S. policymakers need to reflect on what Americans are getting for their greater health spending. They could conclude: It’s the prices, stupid” (G. Anderson, 2003). Americans aren’t necessarily getting more; they’re just spending so much more for services than most countries with similar healthcare policies. And we don’t have a choice. Organ donating is a free service. It says it in the name… it is a donation. So if the donor is not charging any money for the organ than where is the ridiculous cost of an organ transplant coming from and where is the money going? According Fortune magazine, organ transplants range anywhere from 30,000 dollars (cornea transplant) all the way to 1.4 million dollars (heart transplant). An organ transplant is a very intense and complicated procedure. It requires the best doctors, facilities and medicines however, many medical professionals have trouble justifying the ungodly costs for an organ that came free. The average cost of a kidney transplant in the U.S is 400,000 USD. The average cost of a kidney transplant in Germany is 75,000 USD (G. Kirste, 2015). It is very clear that the cost of medical care in the U.S is incredibly higher than that of Germany and other European countries. The U.S median household income according to the census in 2018 was $61,937 (Census.gov). If compared to the average cost of an organ transplant, it exceeds the median household income almost 10 times. Tack on another several thousand dollars for the organ itself and the price is not even plausible. If compared to the prices of organs on the black market, dealers charger anywhere from 200,000 dollars to 1 million per an organ! How likely would a person be to sell their organ for a quarter of a million dollars if it were legal? Probably very

Theel 4 likely. The Unfortunate truth is the people stepping up to the plate to ‘sell’ their organs are not going to be the same people who donate. The reason goes from selfless to selfish. Because of this, the organ seller may not be to the health or expectation of the recipient. This could very easily lengthen and complicate the process of finding a recipient the right match. On the outside looking in, the number of organs available may raise but the process in deeming the organs transplantable will quickly make many donors/ sellers not applicable. Amy Friedman, director of transplantation at SUNY Upstate Medical University says: "I agree with our opponents that the black market must be closed. I disagree with asking patients to accept death gracefully, instead of resorting to the black market. My position is that development of a legal, regulated mechanism for donor compensation is the only means of effectively eliminating the demand for this covert activity” (npr.org). There is no doubt that the black market isn’t an issue. However, if organ sales are made legal, it will get sucked into the monopolized healthcare market. For example, let’s say a person sells their organ to a hospital and the hospital pays them 50,000 dollars for the organ. The chances of the hospital selling that same organ to a recipient for that same price is extremely low. It is a for profit market and the legalization of organ sales will just support this unethical market. It all comes down to healthcare not being an equal opportunity market. Healthcare in America favors the rich. There is a policy known as the OPTN (Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network policy. This policy basically links every hospital and organizations with any organ transplant services or departments. Basically what this means is that people can register on multiple transplant lists at different locations. With every registry, there are certain qualifications that you must meet and there are typically fees included and you have to agree to be able to pay those fees at any given time. For someone of a lower income status, this is not

Theel 5 necessarily an option. Therefore, if you can afford to be put on more registries, the chances of you getting an organ transplant is higher than someone who is only on one list. According to transplantliving.org, this is what is required to be able to be on multiple listings. “As with any transplant listing, you must be considered and accepted by a transplant center. This involves completing an evaluation and agreeing to meet any conditions set by the program (for example, ability to come to the hospital within a certain time if you are called for an organ offer)” (UNOS, 2020). A lot of the fees could be covered by insurance but there are also a lot of out of pocket fees like paying for travel and lodging if one of the donation centers you are registered at is far away. Dr Raymond Givens, Ph.D., at Columbia University Medical Center in New York says, “Multiple-listed patients, despite being less sick, were more likely to receive a transplant” (JACC,2015). Selling organs for profit is unethical because it supports the monopolized healthcare market, attracts unfit candidates and favors the already unbalanced financial ratio of organ recipients (i.e.- favors the rich). Each Criteria above meets and supports my definition of illegal organ sales. Vikki Tulcus was just one example of thousands. She was one of 17 people that die every day while waiting for an organ transplant. Legalizing the sales of human organs would only lengthen and complicated the process and would create an even more unequal system for organ recipients.

Theel 6 References Anderson, G. F., Reinhardt, U. E., Hussey, P. S., & Petrosyan, V. (2003). It’s The Prices, Stupid: Why The United States Is So Different From Other Countries. Health Affairs, 22(3), 89– 105. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.22.3.89 Bureau, U. S. C. (2019, October 29). U.S. Median Household Income Up in 2018 From 2017. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/09/us-median-household-income-up-in-2018from-2017.html. Delgado, J. (2018, September 7). Organ donor advocate who died waiting for kidney featured in donor commercial. chicagotribune.com. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ctxpm-2013-04-02-ct-met-organ-donor-campaign-20130402-story.html. Givens, Raymond & Dardas, Todd & Clerkin, Kevin & Restaino, Susan & Schulze, P. & Mancini, Donna. (2015). Outcomes of Multiple Listing for Adult Heart Transplantation in the United States. JACC: Heart Failure. 3. 10.1016/j.jchf.2015.07.012. Grosscup, A. (2020, March 03). Multiple listing. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://transplantliving.org/before-the-transplant/waiting-for-your-transplant/multiple-listing/ Hospitals & Monopoly. Open Markets Institute. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/hospitals-monopoly. Kirste, G. (2015). Organspende und -transplantation in Deutschland. Patientenverfügungen, 279–287. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10246-2_29 Knox, R. (2008, May 21). Should We Legalize the Market for Human Organs? https://www.npr.org/2008/05/21/90632108/should-we-legalize-the-market-for-human-organs.

Theel 7 Monopoly. (2018). Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 1; Organ Donation Statistics. (2020, September 28). https://www.organdonor.gov/statisticsstories/statistics.html....